


The Middle of the End

by jaegerbagell, VioletHalo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, New X-Men: Academy X, Runaways (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse), Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everything is based in some way on Earth 616 or the MCU, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other, Politics, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Time Travel, it's gonna be long, kids just trying to survive, plot heavy but also very character focused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 00:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5144399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaegerbagell/pseuds/jaegerbagell, https://archiveofourown.org/users/VioletHalo/pseuds/VioletHalo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>2024<br/>It's been nine years since the Superhuman Registration Act was first seriously considered. It's been nine years since the first bouts of resistance. It's been five years since the war started. The avengers of the past are gone, absorbed into S.H.I.E.L.D. It's been four years since a group of anti-registration rebels started calling themselves the Avengers, now lead into battle again and again by Gertrude Yorkes.</p><p>When all hope is lost, Gertrude uses a time machine that belonged to her parents to send a young team of superheros into the past to stop the act at all costs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The End of the End

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU in the sense that it is VERY different from canon, but a large portion of the backstory will follow or be inspired by comics canon.  
> I'm mixing the MCU in here as well, but it will be a small part. Basically, I wanted Cap and Iron Man for this fic, since it is Marvel Civil War inspired, but I don't like comic Cap or comic Iron Man. The Avengers will be the MCU Avengers, and S.H.I.E.L.D will be MCU S.H.I.E.L.D. The universe for this fic will be less accustomed to superheros than 616, like how for the MCU, superheros are less abundant.  
> This story will focus on young heroes dealing with the politics of SHIELD as it threatens to take away their freedom.

2024  
It's been nine years since the superhuman registration act was first seriously considered. It's been nine years since the first bouts of resistance. It's been five years since the war started. The avengers of the past are gone, absorbed into S.H.I.E.L.D. It's been four years since a group of anti-registration rebels started calling themselves the Avengers, now lead into battle again and again by Gertrude Yorkes.  
It's been one year since Cassie Lang joined the rebellion, and then a fraction called the Young Avengers.  
Now, Cassie is sixteen years old.

Panic surrounded Cassie, superheroes running past her, all ready for battle. Their base was discovered by cape killers, everyone had to evacuate, had to make sure to get all the important documents out.  
Cassie's job was to get the injured and young to safety. This place wasn't only for planning the rebellion's next move, it was also a place of shelter. Those bastards.  
S.H.I.E.L.D had moved on from only rounding up those they deemed "high risk" to be taken and trained or imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D and went straight to demanding that anyone with powers needed to be taken. This included children, S.H.I.E.L.D was tearing apart families.  
Some of the parents of the kids that the resistance hid came with their children. Cassie was also supposed to get them out.

"Follow me!" She called to the group following behind her down a long underground hallway.  
A resounding crash rippled through the air. Debris rained down as people screamed and stumbled.  
But the rocks were all caught by magic before they could hurt anyone.  
Billy Kaplan was at the back, making sure no one was left behind and now making sure no one got hit.

Billy was a bit of an enigma, even for a team as patchwork as the rebellion. He was from the future, had accidentally transported himself to the past with his twin brother when he was a child, right after his parents were killed by S.H.I.E.L.D. That's why he fought now, to save his parents. Everyone was pretty sure Kaplan wasn't his real last name, because he didn't like talking about his time. He was obviously hiding things, probably trying not to dishearten the rebellion, because obviously there was something very wrong with the future.  
Hard to imagine how it could get worse than this.  
At the first sight of cape killers, Cassie leaped and shrunk down, kicking the first one hard in the chest so that he went flying back into the others. It always seemed to surprise them that she could do this without the ant-man suit, an ability she gained after an accident involving pym particles as a child. They should know better by now. What really surprised them was when she grew big. Her dad could never do that. But right now she wasn't going to risk it, because she was underground. She didn't have much control over this power, and usually couldn't grow all that much. But she had to be careful, still.

As the battle raged on, Cassie struggled to stay calm. She was a bit new to this, this whole superhero thing. It was terrifying.  
And every cape killer she saw looked like her father's killer. They got him when Cassie was only thirteen. She was hiding out with her family, and her dad's partners. Her mom wasn't a rebel. But her dad took Cassie with him after a threat was made by S.H.I.E.L.D. Her mom must be worried sick and must hate Scott, but Cassie was glad he helped her hide. At that point, he knew about her powers. He knew that she would either be used as bait against him, or be taken by S.H.I.E.L.D like all the other kids with powers.  
Cassie had no sympathy for cape killers, but she couldn't bring herself to kill one. Luckily her powers weren't the lethal kind, like many of the rebels who had been hunted down by S.H.I.E.L.D as a high risk.

"We're almost out!" She heard Billy reassure the group at the back, "just a little longer."  
Children were crying. Adults were groaning as they tore open fresh wounds and old ones alike.  
Those too sick to walk were being carried by Molly Hayes and Teddy Altman, somewhere else in the tunnels.

This used to be easier when Elixir was still alive, able to heal with his ability.  
Nico Minoru had used up practically every healing spell she had, and now had none left for herself, wanting to make sure she could still save her friends. She was with Teddy and Molly, hopefully.

Finally, thank god, they reached the exit.  
"This isn't everyone," Billy said frantically as the group filed past them, "I got a telepathic message from Rachel. There are more injured, people in other areas of-"  
"We're not that strong," Cassie interrupted, "we can't help all of them out!"  
"Teddy and Molly are going back for them," Billy said, already on the go, "we just need to make sure no one gets in the way."  
"Right," Cassie said, trying to sound professional. This was the worst attack on a base she had been in. As she and Billy doubled back, bodies, cape killer and rebel, were strewn down the hallways.  
Cassie tried hard not to look at them. She knew all of these people, some she considered friends, many were mentors.  
And one of them, oh god, one of them was was Chase. He was always joking, trying to keep everyone happy-  
She had to stop thinking about this.

They ran up to a wider room, a battle in full swing.  
Kate and Clint were doing the best they could at such close range, Peter Parker was webbing cape killers to the wall as he clutched a bleeding wound.  
Laura shoved Gambit to the side, and a bullet ripped through her chest. She fell instantly, but Cassie knew she would be fine.  
The same couldn't be said for Reed Richards, lying motionless on the floor.  
Keep running, Cassie told herself,  
Just...get through this.

Down the next hallway, there were more sounds of fighting, more screams.  
As Cassie rounded the corner she almost ran straight into a cape killer, his gun aimed directly at her head.  
There was a split second before she could react, a second she could have been killed in, but two bony claws priced through the cape killer's chest, and when they retracted, he fell.  
Cassie was frozen in shock, flecks of blood on her face, staring at Daken Akihiro.  
Her trembling hand came up to her cheek.  
"Better get used to it," Daken grumbled, "or you're gonna be dead yourself. Kill or be killed, kids."  
He passed them by, and they wasted no time in getting the hell out. Cassie didn't like to admit that Daken scared her, but the people she did tell always understood.  
Good thing he was on her side. Really good thing.

There were more cape killers ahead.  
"Do we have to go this way?" Cassie asked Billy.  
"It's the only way to where the other injured are," he told her, his face almost mirroring her fright.  
To her horror, Cassie realized that the cape killers weren't coming for them, they were holding captives, beating one of them.  
"She's a mutie and a vampire," one of the men said as he raised his fist again.  
"We've got to take her alive," the one holding Jubilee's hands behind her back said to the first man.  
"She's," the man hit her again, "durable."  
"You fucking bastards!" Came a shrill, broken voice.  
Pixie struggled to get free of the grip another cape killer had on her.  
He responded by savagely pulling on one of her wings.

"Let's do this," Billy said darkly, and ran ahead, chanting.  
Cassie ran after him, shrinking and punching the man holding Jubilee.  
Billy knocked the second man out with a spell, and Cassie leaped onto the man holding Pixie, kicking viciously.  
Cassie was no Daken, she didn't want to kill. But that didn't mean she felt anything at all when she hurt these monsters.  
When the two men went down, Pixie pulled Jubilee to her feet.  
"Can you still fight?"  
Jubilee responded with a groan.  
"Shit," Pixie cursed, "don't worry, Jubes, I'll get you out of here."  
"Where is..." Jubilee breathed, "Shogo?"  
"Cloak and Dagger got him to safety," Pixie told her, "him and some of the other children."  
Though Cassie wanted to stay and make sure Jubilee was really okay, she and Billy quickly moved on.

"Wait up!" someone called behind them.  
It was Kate.  
Kate was a bit of an odd one in the group. She didn't actually have powers, but her dad was very connected to the registration act and she found out how many corrupt people were in charge of it. So she ran away, found the rebellion and warned them of an attack, and she's been with them ever since. She's also a total badass, especially with a bow and arrow. Clint Barton started training her almost right away.

"I thought you were fighting!" Billy said.  
"We're supposed to stick together, remember?" she replied, "we're a team!"  
"But we don't have Eli and-" Billy started to say.  
"Sup, losers," called Tommy as he seemed to appear beside them.  
"Be serious!" Billy snapped, finally showing just how worried he was, "people are dying. We could die!"  
"I just barely escaped with my life!" Tommy snapped back, "I know how serious this is. By the way, you all have gotta follow me. Boss wants us in the back room."  
"What the hell is Gert doing in the back room?" Kate almost yelled, "there's no way she's gonna escape!"  
"Dying," Tommy growled.  
"What?" Cassie said.  
"She's dying!" Tommy yelled, "she's bleeding out as we speak and there is nothing we can do. No one who can help her. But she needs us, there's this thing she needs to tell us about before she dies."

"Oh, god," Kate said, "But she's Gert. She's..." Her voice fell flat.  
"But what about Molly and Teddy?" Cassie panted, feeling her legs burn, "we're supposed to be helping them!"  
"Plans change," Tommy snapped.  
"Are they going to Gert too?" Kate asked.  
"No," replied Tommy, "so we shouldn't wait up for them. Eli is are already with her, so we don't need to get him either."

"I thought we were supposed to be a team!" said Billy.  
"We are a team," growled Tommy, "sometimes you have to split up!"  
"What's your freaking deal?" Kate groaned, "you don't have to bite our heads off when all we do is ask questions."  
Tommy didn't reply.

They ran until they almost hit the closed door.  
"Ah hell," Tommy cursed, "we've fucking been barricaded out!"  
"I'll get us in," Cassie said, thinking quick.  
She shrunk down as small as she felt was safe, and ran under the door.  
When she grew back to normal size, she saw a room of weapons, documents, maps, and blueprints.

Various rebels were stuffing whatever they could into bags and pockets.  
Emma Frost was ordering people around, yelling to the room what was a top priority to keep, and what was a top priority to make sure the enemy never gets their hands on.  
Xavin was packing a backpack full of guns, but her attention was split by her wife Karolina, who was curled up in the corner and clutching her chest. She was breathing, but there was a defeated look about her.

"You're going to live, beloved," Xavin was gently calling to her as shaking hands packed the guns, "think of our future. Of the child we want someday. You like the name Vivian, remember? Or Lucy. We might call her Lucy, because of the song at our wedding,"  
Karolina nodded weakly, smiling slightly.

"We need to open the door!" Cassie yelled to the room, "Gert wants the Young Avengers in the back room, and they're on the other side.”  
"Are there cape killers outside?" Emma asked, harsh but not blaming.  
"No, not in this hallway," Cassie replied.  
"Keller," called Emma, "lift the shield."  
"Right, Ms. Frost," Julian replied, waving his metal hands as the psychic barrier around the door lifted.  
"Come in, guys!" Cassie called, and almost instantly the door flung open and her teammates rushed in.  
Julian Keller quickly shut the door again.

"What are you gonna do if some other poor bastards need to get in?" Tommy said with an exasperated wave of his arms, "let them be killed before- holy hell, is the door out blocked too?"  
"What's it look like, genius?" Valeria Richards scoffed as she hauled a large box off the ground.  
"There are cape killers on all sides," Emma explained with her usual strong composure during battle, "we can't let them have what's in this room. Those doors are adamantium, no one can get it..except you, I suppose," she glanced at Cassie, "must be a design flaw, those doors are supposed to be almost air-tight."  
"Good thing they're not effective enough instead of too effective," said Monet, who was using her incredible strength to lift two giant suitcases, "or we'd have suffocated by now."

"Let us through the other door, then," said Tommy, "Gert needs us in the back room."  
"Well," Emma frost replied, "she'll have to wait, because until we have what we need, no one is opening those doors again. We don't know who is on the other side of that door. There could be cape killers waiting for us."  
"She's dying!" Tommy yelled back, "and she needs us in the back room!"

"Gert?..." Karolina lifted her head slightly.  
"Don't think about it now," Xavin said, in a voice she used when she was trying to stay strong in the worst situations.

"You have to let us out!" Billy begged, "Gert needs us! This is an order coming from the leader of the Avengers."  
"And I'm not an avenger," Emma replied swiftly, "and with Scott gone, I'm the leader of the X-Men. I don't answer to Gertrude Yorkes, and I will make sure none of the resources in the room end up with the cape killers."

Cassie wanted to scream, but all she did was stare in horror.  
This could not be happening. The obstacle keeping her from reaching her dying leader could not be one of her allies. What Emma said made sense, she was a good leader, but Cassie's loyalty to Gert trumped all that.

"You can go on as soon as we're done," Emma concluded.  
Cassie didn't have one single good feeling about this, but before she gathered the courage to say anything Tommy's voice exploded through the room.  
"She's fucking bleeding out! This path was clear when I ran through it like five seconds ago!"  
"That's exaggerating even for you," Billy told him quietly.  
"The speedster is right," said Xavin in a commanding tone to rival Emma's, "I trust Gertrude with my life, I trust that if she needs the Young Avengers, there is a damn good reason."

Before anyone could say anything else, the whole room shook like a snow globe as an explosion sounded above them.  
Cassie was flung off her feet and hit the ground hard. Boxes and shelves crashed to the ground, glass smashed, people screamed, Karolina cried out and whimpered.  
"They're going to blow us up," Julian said, almost a manic laugh, "they want to fucking blow us up."

Cassie slowly got up, catching her balance.  
"Guys," Monet said, picking up a huge crate, "something spilled and if it was stored here that means it's bad."  
Emma went to her and kneeled down to investigate the liquid and glass where the crate had fallen.

After a moment, she spoke.  
"No one goes back that way," she pointed to the door the Young Avengers had come through.  
"That's where the exits are!" Cecily Kincaid protested.  
"I know..." Emma replied. We'll have to make our own exit, but it'll be risky."

Her brow furrowed.  
"Damn it, Scott," she muttered, "I told you this should be destroyed. You lied to me..."  
"No way," Cecily gasped, "did Scott not destroy the trigger scent?"  
"Unfortunately, no" Emma growled, "he must have believed we could somehow use it to our advantage."  
"And now we're all probably reeking of the stuff!" Julian cursed, "damn it, damn it, damn it!"  
Cassie had heard Laura talk about the trigger scent, she knew what it did.  
"Laura's back there," she said weakly, pointing down the hallway, "and I don't think even her claws can get through that door."  
"Precisely my point," said Emma, "no one opens that door for any reason. No going out the normal exit."

As the others packed as quickly as they could, the Young Avengers waited anxiously for them to finish. Cassie guessed that Xavin would have fought Emma's order, being a former runaway, if she wasn't distracted by her wife slowly dying in the corner.

Just as Tommy was gearing up to yell at Emma again, something hit the door.  
There was a muffled yell from the other side.  
"Miss Frost?" Julian asked, his usual bravado gone, "what if that's someone who needs to get in?"  
"We can't open that door," she replied.  
"I think we've got everything, Emma," Monet said, "let's move"  
"Hellion, open the other door," said Emma.  
Everyone in the room started fileing out, and Xavin shapeshifted into a particularly muscular version of his male form so that he could carry both the supplies and Karolina.

Someone was now banging on the door.  
"Miss frost-" Julian started.  
"No," Emma cut him off, "that door does not open-"  
But Julian opened the door anyway, only a tiny bit, and then shut it again.  
"Cape killers?" asked Tommy.  
"No,” said Julian, "Laura. Laura and Gambit. He's...he looked bad."

Cassie stepped closer to the door in time to hear the muffled yelling.  
"Julian!" came Laura's voice, "let us in! The other entrance is blocked by cape killers. We need go get out this way and so do many others."  
"We can't," Julian yelled back, sounding choked, "a vial of trigger scent smashed everywhere. Scott didn't destroy it all."

There was a short silence, and then another yell.  
"I'm running the other way, then. Once I'm gone open the door and let Gambit in. He won't survive another battle like this.”  
"No!" Gambit yelled, "don't let her leave herself behind! You know what the facility would do if-"  
"You will die if you don't go," Laura protested, her voice savage.  
"I'm not leaving," said Gambit, "we'll fight our way out of here and-"  
"Open the door, Jullian!" Laura yelled, all calm lost from her voice, "open the door and I will run, make sure gambit gets inside, drag him in if you have to!"

Everyone but the young avengers and Julian had left the room.  
"We have to go," said Tommy. A million thoughts were flying through Cassie's head, and then three things happened almost all at once.

Julian swung open the door, Gambit took hold of Laura's arm and yanked her in before she could run, causing both of them to crash to the ground on the other side of the door, and then just as Laura got to her feet Kate shot an arrow straight through her throat.  
That didn't last long. Laura quickly pulled the arrow out, her eyes clouded with red.

Cassie yelped and ran through the other door, too frightened to feel ashamed of abandoning her teammates.  
It didn't sound like they were far behind her, though.  
Tommy joined her side almost instantly.

"We're the only ones with damn self preservation skills," he sighed, "but I doubled back like two seconds ago and it seems as though they've handled it. Julian is carrying Laura and Gambit with his powers, and Laura's out cold. Billy probably used some spell."  
"Thank god," Cassie sighed, trying to work past the almost impossible amount of stress chemicals that flooded her brain.

"We're almost there," Tommy murmured, "so don't worry. We'll get to Gert in time."  
"Are you ever going to tell us why we're not meeting up with Molly and Teddy? If it's some secret you're sworn to, I get it. It's fine. But they're my friends and-"  
"They're dead," Tommy interrupted, his voice monotone, "saw them die on my way to you guys. Couldn't tell Billy."

Cassie was about to say something, but her breath just caught in her throat, and Tommy continued.  
"We need Billy to survive this. We need Billy on top of his game. He...he's in love. It's stupid and cheesy and he's only sixteen but..."  
Tommy's voice broke, and he heaved a couple heavy breaths as he squeezed his eyes shut.  
Even with tears sliding down his face, Tommy continued running forward.

Cassie just felt frozen. That must have been what Tommy felt before finally breaking.  
Cassie would just have to make sure she didn't break before the mission, whatever it was their dying leader had in mind, was complete.

"I'm gonna speed ahead," Tommy said, "I can't be here if Billy catches up. Please don't tell him. Don't tell any of them about Teddy and Molly."  
He didn't stick around long enough to hear the answer.

It was just Cassie, running alone through the semi-darkness, hearing mostly silence with a few distant screams and her feet as they hit the hard floor.  
A selfish part of her wished that Tommy was still there, because even though she knew that he was just up ahead and that her other teammates were close behind, it felt horribly like she was the last one left in this...apocalypse.

But Cassie would be strong. She reminded herself that she was a superhero. She saved people. Her dad was a superhero. Hank was a super hero, Hank's wife was a superhero. Cassie's dad's wife was a superhero.  
She was raised around superheroes, had heard these wonderful stories about superheroes from her dad and his found family, and Cassie always knew that she would be like them.

Finally, she reached the back room. The door was shut, so she knocked and yelled who she was.  
The door creaked open, Tommy had let her in, and before her eyes she saw her leader bleeding out on the floor.  
Gert was huddled against the wall, holding bundles of bloody fabric to her side.

"The others?" She rasped, her eyes filled with a sadness that meant she expected the worst.  
Eli was also there, sitting close by Gert's side, also covered in blood. Except it didn't seem like it was his.  
"They're almost here," Cassie explained, "well, except for Teddy and..."  
Oh god, she did not want to tell Gert that Molly had died.  
"They're not here..." she settled on, feeling like a complete coward. Well, if she was a coward because of this, so was Tommy. He had the opportunity.  
"When you're all here, I have a task for you guys," Gert continued, her voice almost a whisper.

Another knock at the door.  
The others were here.  
Billy and Kate entered the room, and Kate told them that Julian had gone off to find wherever Emma Frost was going to escape.

"This is everyone," Tommy told Gert as he closed the door. His voice was still hollow from crying, and his pale face was a touch more red than usual. He was doing a very good job of masking his pain.

"But..." Gert rasped, trying to sit up straighter, "I asked for all the young avengers...didn't Rachel tell you-"  
"She did," said Tommy. “This is all of us.”

"Tommy," said Billy, quietly, softly, "Teddy isn't here yet. Gert just said she had asked for all of us."  
Tommy didn't look at his brother, "plans change," he managed to choke out.  
"Why..." said Billy, his eyes wide and desperate, "would you tell us he wasn't supposed to come with us if Gert wanted us all?"

"He's dead!" Cassie burst out, her lips trembling. She couldn't stand this.  
"Dead?" Billy asked to no one in particular.  
"Cassie, did you see-" Kate started to say.  
"Tommy did," Cassie answered, "Tommy saw him die and he also-"  
Damn it. She had admitted knowing about another death.  
"Molly?" Gert asked.  
"Yeah..." Cassie said.  
"Oh, god," Gertrude said, burying her face in her hands, "she's too young...she..."

"Teddy is dead?" Billy asked again, "and, and," he almost sounded like he was in a daze. Maybe he was.  
"And," he continued, voice breaking into a sob, "you knew...you knew about this when we met up. He's been dead for...he was already dead when we left the storage room. He was dead when you arrived."  
"I'm sorry," said Tommy, trying and failing to regain some composure, "we...we needed you. I had to keep you from getting distracted from-"  
"Dis-distracted?" Billy retorted, and then laughed as he cried out again, "my boyfriend is dead and you were worried about how I could help you..."  
"That's not it," yelled Tommy, "Billy, please..."

Billy didn't respond, he just collapsed into Kate's arms, sobbing into her shoulder. Kate held him tightly with a grim look on her face. She wasn't crying. Yet.  
Cassie hadn't cried. Yet.  
Eli just looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.

"On with the plan," came Gertrude's voice, low and pained with a deep anger resting beneath. Cassie knew she wasn't angry at them.  
Even though Gert was taking command of the situation, there were fresh streaks of tears across her face, dripping off her chin.

"We're pretty much fucked," she told the room, "things are looking worse than ever...but I recently found one of my parents' old machines."  
She pointed to a giant, rather rusty, metal fence that wrapped in a circle.  
"It's a time machine. From the design notes I found with it, a really early one. It worked. But there are notes from years later that explained how the machine worked better when they were younger. The older they got, the less accurate the machine was. They studied it, and realized that the machine was only good for young people. Most adults couldn't use it at all. Lots of theories and stuff about why that was-"  
She started coughing violently, and when she collected herself she continued without hesitation.

"But there's no time for that. Young Avengers, I need you to use it and go to the past. I would have done this earlier, but Forge didn't finish the repairs until today. And this was a really last ditch effort...but now it's the time. Please go change-"  
Her voice wavered, "change the past. It's already set to a time before the registration act. You have to stop things from getting like this. Stop the act, fix the act, do whatever you have to and save..."  
She paused, her eyes fluttering closed.  
"Save us all...none of this has to happen...good...luck. Not that you need it."  
Gert smiled one last time before slipping into unconsciousness that would be followed quickly by death.

The next moments may have been a blur, but for Cassie, everything was suddenly crystal-clear. They had a mission.  
She gathered everyone into the enclosed space, looked quickly for the "on" switch, and was about to press it before Eli pulled her back lightly.  
"We don't know if this thing is safe."  
"We're not safe," Kate interjected, "we're all gonna die if we-"

The door was burst open, swinging wildly on it's hinges.  
Into the room limped Molly Hayes, bleeding, bruised, swaying, and dragging Teddy behind her.  
"Teddy!" Billy yelled, and both Kate and Cassie had to hold him back from running out of the circle.

"Wait for him..." Molly coughed as though each word pained her, "I knew I wasn't gonna make it out of here...I was shot...a lot of times. Only thing keeping me up is my mutant strength. But Teddy needs to go with...you...he's alive...barely alive but-"  
She cried in pain and crumpled to the floor.

Eli and Kate rushed to pull Teddy off the floor.  
"Molly!" Kate yelled as Eli carried Teddy back to the group.  
There was no reply.  
"She was shot," Eli grimly paraphrased Molly's own words, "multiple times."  
One they were all in the circle, Cassie turned the machine on.


	2. The Beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adventure begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so so sorry for how long this update took! Jaegerbagell got too busy to edit and then our writing schedule just kinda died. I edited this chapter, and will take over the editing until jaegerbagell has time to work on the fic.  
> I promise the next update will not take this long.
> 
> ~VioletHalo

They appeared in the dark, surrounded by grass and buildings. In the middle of a park, it would seem.

"You think that thing had coordinates in it?" Eli asked, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"No idea," said Kate, "but I think we're in New York."

"Looks..." Cassie glanced around, "different."

"Less destroyed," Tommy said dryly."

"We're in a park," said Kate, "dressed like superheroes."

"It's New York," Cassie shrugged. "I think we're alright. For now at least. We'll have to find some normal clothes soon. And right now we need to find shelter."

 

There was a long silence from the group, expect for Billy's quiet sobbing.

He probably had the right idea, Cassie thought. No one else was really processing what happened.

Kate and Eli set Teddy down gently on the grass.

 

"I can't believe this happened," Kate said. "We're...we're in the past. Gert thought the future was so screwed that the only way to fix it was to rewrite history."

"Civilizations fall," said Eli. "If the people of Pompeii could have saved themselves with time travel, they would have."

"We need to make sure Teddy survives," Cassie said, tearing her eyes away from the dark city. "We don't know how he was injured."

"I'm...fine..." came Teddy's voice, "I'm a....shape...shifter...I can manage a bit of healing if I need t-

he gasped, then twitched violently.

 

Billy was at his side instantly, bent over his chest, clinging to his almost lifeless body with shaking hands.

"We need to find someplace to hide," said Eli. "We'll attract even more attention with Teddy bleeding out. We need to find a way to help him. We need to know how he was injured."

"He was shot," Tommy said in a rough voice, surprising everyone.

"I saw it," he said, looking at the others and their startled expressions, "remember?"

"I'm assuming it wasn't just one shot..." Kate said gently, her brow creased.

"...no," Tommy answered. "More like...I don't know, a lot. It all happened so fast...I'm supposed to be the fast one. What..." his face was flushing red, "a fucking," his voice broke, "ironic-"

 

He didn't finish, he just held his hand to his face as he cried silently.

Just then, there was a strange vibration in the air around them, accompanied by a slight buzzing noise.

They looked around for the source, and saw Vision.

Not The Vision, the ex-avenger they had heard legends about, but the second attempt at creating a Vision that was from their own time.

 

"What are you doing here?" asked Kate in complete bewilderment.

"I picked up on the signal that Gertrude's time machine gave off," he explained calmly. "I phased into the room, looking for our leader, only to find both her and Ms. Hayes dead. I noticed the time machine, and felt an energy leading to this location. I managed to lock my phasing powers onto the signal-"

 

"And now you're back here," Tommy interrupted, voice still raw and hurt. "Well, you're not part of this team so you can just go back now."

"I cannot," Vision said, simply. "The signal is no longer active."

"Just perfect," Tommy muttered, "freaking spy-bot-clone-thing is tagging along."

"I have told you multiple times that I am not a robot, a spy, a clone, or a thing," Vision reminded him, only letting a slight touch of annoyance show.

No one said anything for a moment, except Billy, who was chanting a spell with shaken words.

 

"He can help us, guys," Cassie decided to say, even at the risk of upsetting the team. "He's been with the rebellion long enough to prove he's not a spy."

Cassie's words were delivered a tad harshly, but she felt it had to be said.

Vision was an android built by S.H.I.E.L.D to take the place of the original Vision. They decided that the new vision would be all mechanical, unlike the original that Helen Cho had created, and he would be made with the brain development of a young teenager to make him more impressionable. S.H.I.E.L.D had been more than displeased when the original Vision ran off to god knows where.

And if they were mad before, they must be furious now. Like Kate, the young Vision had come to the rebellion with a warning that an attack was coming. Many rebels had doubted him, but Gertrude convinced them all to take his advice and move camp somewhere else.

 

There was an attack, and Vision had asked to stay as a member of the rebellion. Multiple telepaths scanned his mind, which was surprisingly readable despite being tech, and found that it held no plots of betrayal. There was still doubt, of course.

Cassie was pretty sure she and Teddy were the only Young Avengers who actually trusted the poor guy.

 

"Cassie's right," said Kate, taking charge as usual. "He could be an asset to us and it's not like we could stop him if he wanted to spy on us, phasing powers and all. Better to keep him where we can see him."

"I agree," said Eli, which was strange. Eli and Kate's strong personalities often clashed when it came to leadership positions. Eli had been the official leader at first, but everyone tended to listen to Kate just as much.

"G...guys?" came a weak voice. They all turned to Teddy, seeing that his wounds were gone, the only evidence left behind being the torn clothes and bloodstains.

"I..." Billy whispered, not looking up at his team, "healed...I healed him."

 

Without another word, he sank fully to the ground, breathing quickly.

 

"Woah," gasped Teddy, scrambling up and hissing in pain. Some injuries must not have repaired fully.

"Billy?" He asked, looking intensely confused and worried.

"What just-" he stroked Billy's shoulder, "hey, hey...Billy. It's okay. We're all fine."

Billy didn't say anything, just stared ahead and took in shaky breaths.

"Billy?"

He didn't respond.

"What's wrong with him?" Teddy demanded, looking up at his team with desperation in his eyes.

"He's not injured," Cassie said. "We all just went through... something big."

"Uh," Teddy asked, "what exactly...did we go through? Last thing I really remember was fighting cape killers with Molly. We both got shot, and then she was dragging me somewhere. You guys were there...I think."

"That's right," Kate nodded, giving him a sympathetic look.

"But where are we now?"

"We'll explain after we find shelter," said Eli, ever practical.

 

The shelter they did find happened to be behind a large industrial building in a dark alleyway, but at least they weren't going to be seen. Well, the other homeless people in the area noticed them, but they weren't likely to call the cops.

At first Billy had refused to stand, flinching away from helping hands. Eventually Teddy just shapeshifted into a non-green version of his Hulkling form and picked him up.

When they settled into the alleyway, rain began to sprinkle down. Just their luck.

 

"We're so fucked," Tommy grimaced.

"Just a little rain," Kate replied. "And time travel."

She looked a little less confident now.

"At least we know our objective," said Eli. "Making sure the civil war never happens."

"What are you guys talking about?" Teddy asked, eyes wide.

"We're in the past," Cassie told him. "Gert found a time machine that belonged to her parents."

Teddy didn't say anything, so Kate finished explaining.

When she was done, Teddy let out a long breath.

Billy, who was leaning against his shoulder, started to cry again.

 

"It's okay," Teddy spoke softly.

"It's n-not okay," Billy muttered into Teddy's neck. "You almost died! You would still be back in that hell hole if Molly hadn't saved you. And...and..." Billy's voice took on a darker tone, "you!" he pointed at Tommy, sitting up fast on his shaking knees, "you left Teddy for dead! You left him to did and you lied to me! You lied to me! You didn't want me going back..."

The accusatory hand was still there, Billy's arm about as steady as a twig.

"I'm sorry," was Tommy's reply, and it had none of his usual snark, and absolutely no defense. "I really thought you were dead, Teddy. Billy, I only wanted to make sure you were safe. The heat of battle isn't the time to hear news like that."

"You used me!" Billy almost screamed, his voice cracking, "you used me and lied to me and left my boyfriend to die! You left Molly to die too! You just ran...you just ran the fuck away because that's your only power! That's all you do!"

"You know what?" Tommy yelled back, suddenly sounding like himself again, but with more desperation. "I think I'll do that now!"

He got to his feet in one angry movement, and both Eli and Kate jumped up in an attempt to grab him.

He shoved them away easily, taking a couple steps backwards.

"I'm just gonna go get some food and proper clothes. I'll be back soon enough...As if anyone will miss me."

And with that, he was off.

Kate cursed, then looked toward Eli.

"He shouldn't go out alone," she said.

"I don't think he is," came Teddy's voice. "Cassie's gone."

**Author's Note:**

> Credit goes to VioletHalo for writing this chapter out and for pushing this whole project along and making it a reality! She's gr8
> 
> Anyway if you read through all this thank you so much and I hope you stick around for chapter 2.
> 
> ~jaegerbagell


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